WE FIND A FOUNDATIONAL EXPRESSION of God’s love for us in Isaiah’s prophetic words of future promise for Israel. The prophecy is messianic in its scope and import, and is directly tied to Jesus as redeemer of the souls of mankind. “I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again. Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you.” (Isa. 54:9-10)
This is a statement of covenant, and it inferentially discloses both God’s unconditional and eternal love, and his grace and mercy. This is the God who watches over his children, who cares for us greatly, and who is the initiator of all reconciliation and restoration. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8) His love for us is far different than our worldly understanding of love, and can only be comprehended by and through a transformed view of the meaning of life. “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)
The apostle Paul had great reason to love the Lord Jesus, for as great as his sins had been, greater still was his redemption. Paul had been involved in Steven’s murder. “And Saul approved of their killing him.” (Acts 8:1) He was a persecutor of Christians. “Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.” (Acts 8:3) And yet, he was converted, forgiven, and given a tremendous mission. “A light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’” (Acts 9:3-6) Later, Paul expresses his overwhelming sense in the power of unconditional love. “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Phil. 1:21), he says, and “What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.” (Phil. 3:8) His former way of life is stripped away in an instant, and he will spend the rest of his life compelled by the love of God made manifest in Jesus. “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” (2 Cor. 5:14-15)
Paul’s journey from sinner to saint is both a testimony to Jesus, and a call to pilgrimage for each and every one of us. He is passionate, not only in his own faith expressed through obedience, but in his desire that everyone can experience and live in this same great love of God. His words to Timothy are also words that challenge us. “Therefore I urge you to imitate me.” (1 Cor. 4:16) He expands this call in his letter to the Philippians. “Brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is lovely, think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.” (Phil. 4:8-9)
In his first letter to the Corinthian church, Paul is eloquent in his praise of God’s unconditional love, resident within us in our birth from above (cf. John 3:5-7). “Love,” he says, “is patient, kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not proud. It does not dishonor, is not self-seeking, is not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs.” (1 Cor. 13:4-5) But love’s transcendent value is incomplete if limited to merely understanding its philosophical or metaphysical aspects. Love must have expression that stretches beyond emotion, and cannot be bound by our need to be loved, but must be set free through our actions to give love.
So Paul gives specific instructions. “Love must be sincere,” he says. (Rom. 12:9a) It cannot be feigned, but must be a genuine love for fellow believers. (cf. 1 Pet. 1:22) “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” (Rom. 12:10) “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” (Rom. 12:12-13)
In these ways, love becomes an action. It begins in a transformed system of belief, and finds its expression in serving others. Jesus is the perfect manifestation of God’s love (cf. John 3:16-17), and it is from him that we learn the greatest lesson in loving others: “Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:12-13) But this is preceded by Jesus’ reiterated and clarified prescription of the greatest command: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength,” he says, and “Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” (Matt. 22:37, 39) And in this way, we enter into and complete our covenant with God.
Q. What prioritizes my need more: to be loved, or to give love?
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